by Terry Spear
“Do so.”
Atreides left the van to speak with Iconia, to tell her that he had business to take care of, and they would make time for each other later. But as soon as she saw Colt carrying the huntress out of the vehicle and heading toward the front door of his home, he swore she was going to go into a feeding frenzy and spill blood, his, the huntress’s, and anyone else’s who got in her way.
“What is she doing here?” Iconia asked, her extended canines visible.
“She was injured by a rogue vampire and—”
“The way she came into the club, she deserves everything she got. Again, I say, what is she doing here?”
“She didn’t deserve being brutalized by a vampire. No one does.”
Renault opened the front door for Colt as he cradled the huntress in his arms and entered the house.
“I have some business to take care of. We’ll have to see each other later.”
“If you would mate me, we wouldn’t have to find time to spend with each other,” Iconia said, slipping close to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her body against his.
Yet, his body craved the feel of the huntress close, the impish expression she had worn when she’d danced with him, the subtle fragrance that was all hers.
“Later,” he said, kissed Iconia on the forehead, and vanished. He knew she would be even more pissed off now, but he wouldn’t tell her again that he had business to take care of.
Inside, Basil waited with Twilight in the living room with Colt and Renault.
“Where is the huntress?” he asked his friends telepathically.
“Sleeping in the guest room she used before,” Colt said.
“All right, let’s get down to business.” Atreides motioned for Twilight to take a seat on one of the velour couches.
She flopped down on one as if she didn’t have a care in the world. If he said she could no longer use any of the vampire establishments, would she be so carefree? As much as she loved them, Atreides didn’t think so.
“You asked to see the huntress through a human, Tara Green?”
All of the vampires were watching her, smelling her emotions, studying her reactions, subtle or not. Twilight twisted her lips in a way that said she was trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t get her into trouble with the vampires, Atreides thought.
“Okay, what did you need to speak with the huntress about?” Atreides asked, getting down to business.
“Her sister Rosa has disappeared. She has done it before. She’s a huntress, wild, trying to find a hunter mate. No one believes she’s missing. The other hunters assume she just doesn’t want to be found because she’s fooling around with another hunter.”
“Rosa,” Atreides said. “All right.” He folded his arms as he looked down at her. “But you have word otherwise?” Twilight couldn’t have. Rosa was the huntress who had agreed to work with him. No one but the vampires who were guarding her knew about her.
Basil and Renault took a seat on a couch opposite her. Colt leaned on an arm of the sofa, his arms crossed over his chest. Atreides remained standing.
“Everyone has ignored the situation but her sister, Selena. She has been looking into her disappearance. Tara Green is a friend of mine. She’s a friend of Selena’s. Tara asked if I could check my vampire sources, that’s what she calls you all, and see if I might learn anything that would lead to a different conclusion. That the huntress is in trouble. That she had a bad run-in with a vampire or a group of vampires, and that she’s not with a hunter like the others believe.”
“And?”
“I didn’t find her. But I learned that Selena was outed by her kind.”
“Why?”
“She killed a hunter who was going to murder a vampiress who happened to be carrying his child. When he learned of it, he intended to murder her. Selena protected the vampiress, but the hunter wouldn’t stand down. He planned to kill both of them, huntress and vampiress. He couldn’t let a vampire-hunter child of his stain his reputation as a hunter.”
“Selena killed him,” Atreides said, taking a seat on a chair, surprised as hell. “And for that, she has been cut off from her kind, despite doing what was right.”
“Who is the vampiress?” Basil asked.
“Charlene. But she’s dead. The brother of the one who Selena killed went after Charlene, determined to finish what his brother attempted to do. Except this time, Selena wasn’t there to protect her.”
“The hunter’s name?”
“Cliff Kellerman. He’s a redhead, and he was close to his brother. Rumor is he intends to kill Selena next for murdering his brother, even though she was in the right, and he and his brother were in the wrong.”
Atreides ground his teeth.
“I’ve heard you’re looking for five hunters who have killed innocent vampiresses. Some say one was the one Selena killed. One is the brother. And I don’t know who the other three are,” Twilight said.
“Why didn’t you tell me all this before?” Atreides couldn’t believe Twilight would withhold the information from him when she was always looking for ways to be accepted by their kind.
“I…wasn’t supposed to know. And I didn’t learn about some of this until Tara came to me. She asked me to see if I could learn anything about Selena’s sister’s disappearance.” Twilight shrugged. “I think they’re all connected. Maybe.”
“But you have no clue where the huntress is?” If Twilight or anyone else knew, he would have to move Rosa to a new location.
Twilight glanced at the entryway from the hall to the bedrooms. Selena stood there and Atreides wondered just how long she had been listening. She was wearing a T-shirt that featured an angel with black wings. An avenging angel?
“Selena, are you feeling better?” he asked.
“Did you drug me?”
Everyone turned to look at Atreides, appearing a bit taken aback. “Pain medication. The effect must have lasted longer than I predicted.”
She turned her attention to Twilight. “What do you know of my sister?”
“I was looking into her disappearance because Tara asked me to. And because…” Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes. “Charlene cared for me, and I adored her. She was so happy to be having the hunter’s baby, and then he tried to murder her, but you protected her. So, I was trying to help you find your sister.”
Okay, that made sense, Atreides thought.
“You said Cliff Kellerman killed her? And there are at least three other rogue hunters out there?” This time she directed the questions to Atreides.
“Apparently.”
“You’re not planning to hunt them down, are you?” Selena sounded worried about him.
“We have gone to the League about this. But they say without proof, their hands are tied,” Atreides said.
Selena turned to Twilight. “Did you learn anything about my sister?”
“I think a vampire has her. I can’t say for sure. But I…well, I sensed that some of them know something about her, but they wouldn’t say.” Twilight glanced at Atreides.
“Which vampires?” he asked, furious that anyone who was guarding her might have leaked the information.
“No one I knew. And you know a host can’t just go up to a bunch of vampires and start taking down names. But I can offer my blood and I get them to talking, when they’re not sucking.”
Well, that was true, Atreides had to concede.
Selena sat down next to Twilight on the couch. “Why do you do it?”
“It feels great. They love me for it. I love them for it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t do it.”
Selena shook her head.
“You killed a hunter defending one of our own,” Atreides said to Selena, admiring her greatly for standing up for their kind and putting herself into a dark hole, where the hunters were concerned.
“It was the right thing to do. I’m…I’m sorry that the other hunter murdered her. If I had known he intended to, I would have stopped him also.�
�
Twilight nodded and brushed away tears.
“Are the hunters angry enough to kill you over this?” Atreides asked, already knowing he wasn’t allowing her to leave his house. Not only would the hunters not have her back, but some rogue wanted her dead.
“The brother, Cliff, I guess. The others? I think they would have already done so if they had wanted to. Unless they want to make it look like a vampire did it so they’re trying to figure out how to do that.”
“They wouldn’t hire a vampire to murder you, would they? One that is already rogue, and he has no qualms about killing a huntress?” Atreides asked.
“The one who tore into me? He didn’t kill me. He injured me, but only when I was close enough to reach the club. Like he wanted to involve you somehow. Or Basil. The club or those who go there. I even was wondering if he’d done it to say that huntresses weren’t safe while hunters were killing vampiresses.”
Atreides nodded.
“I need to borrow a phone. I need to call for a loaner car until I can get mine back,” Selena said.
Everyone looked to Atreides to see his take on it and he knew they would all say no to her if any one of them had been in charge.
He shook his head. “You’re staying with us until we catch this rogue vampire, if he still exists, and ensure he doesn’t hurt you again.”
“Fine,” she said, and headed for the front door.
Atreides stared after her retreating backside in disbelief. What part of she wasn’t going anywhere did she not understand?
His friends were smiling at him. Hell, he knew the huntress was a lot more trouble than she was…well, he guessed she was worth the trouble after what she had done for Charlene, but Selena was going to be loads of trouble. Guaranteed.
Atreides appeared in front of her, making her slam her sweet, soft, and very delectable body into his. “You have no hunter protection. You are not going anywhere. If the vampire kills you, all of our necks would be stretched for the hunters’ chopping block.”
“I’m going after Cliff Kellerman.”
“You didn’t see him kill Charlene. You don’t have anyone from the community who will vouch that Charlene didn’t intend to hurt anyone,” Atreides said, wanting to hold the huntress close, to kiss her pursed mouth as she glowered up at him. “And if Twilight is right, the man wants to kill you, so give him a reason. You attack him without provocation, he’ll cut you down and say he was justified. That the vampiress had been your lover and that’s why you killed the hunter who made her pregnant. Not that he was going to kill her but that you were angry about it.”
Selena folded her arms and smiled up at him.
“Well? Couldn’t the hunters say that?”
“Two others witnessed the event. I was afraid they would protect him, but thankfully they didn’t. And they spoke to the board on my behalf, even though no one appreciated what I had done. Hunters kill their own when they go rogue and begin to kill vampires, humans, and hunters without provocation or authority. But in his case, he’d never done anything wrong in his whole hunter career.”
“That anyone knows of.”
“True. And no one was willing to dig up dirt on him. If he and his brother and three others have some kind of vampire death squad they’re in charge of, someone must know something,” Selena said.
“They’re targeting our women. And we have already told the League. They’re not doing anything about it.”
“Your women.” Selena pondered that, then frowned. “Because they can have your offspring.”
“Rather than turn a person.” Atreides’s brows pinched together as if he was deep in thought.
“What?” she asked.
“Do you feel any…differently?” he asked.
“Tired, but that’s to be expected. I had nightmares all night.”
“About the attack?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing that I can remember.”
“All right, listen. We’ll do this together. You’ll have us as backup when you don’t have your own hunters to aid you. We’ll help you to learn who the rogue vampire is, if he’s still alive, and take him down. And we’ll keep you safe from Cliff Kellerman or any other hunter that might give you problems.”
“They won’t like it if they learn I’m working with you.”
“What do you care if they’ve left you to fend for yourself?” he asked.
“If I stay here, I won’t have any unwelcome bed guests, will I?”
Atreides smiled. “Only welcome.”
Chapter 9
Atreides didn’t know why he said what he did to the huntress. The only way he would return to Selena’s guest room was if she were fighting off a vampire. Or hunter. “Twilight, you’ll stay here under our protection.”
“But I thought I could hang around and hear more stuff, and let you know what I find out,” Twilight said, and he knew she desperately wanted to help his kind to prove to them she was truly on their side after having hidden what she had known from them so far.
“No. If the vampire or the hunters involved have any inkling that you’re helping us, you’ll be dead. In the meantime, I need to take care of some business.”
“Do you need any of us to go with you?” Colt asked. “Renault can go.”
Atreides shook his head. “I’ll return as soon as I can. If you have any trouble, let me know at once.”
Then Atreides took off in the way of the vampire, needing to speak with Selena’s sister, figuring they didn’t need two huntresses taking the risk, when it seemed those involved in the killings were already after the one—Selena. No one had been looking for Rosa, at least that they’d known of until they learned about Selena. Rosa hadn’t been at risk, and she hadn’t been cut off from her hunter kind like Selena had been.
When he arrived at Colt’s ranch house, Atreides figured Colt would learn of the huntress staying there before long, and the number of vampires who were also there, protecting her. Colt hadn’t been home in a while, visiting with other vampires in the area, which had given Atreides the idea of sequestering Rosa there.
He knocked at the guest house door, and Basil answered, to Atreides’s surprise. “Who’s minding the shop?”
“I’ve got help. I wanted to see how Rosa was doing,” Basil said.
Four vampires immediately rose from the sofas in the living room of the ranch-style guest house and inclined their heads to Atreides.
“Where is she?” Atreides expected her to come out of the bedroom and ask when she was supposed to do something, again. She’d hounded him for days about it, but despite wanting her help, he didn’t want to endanger her before they were ready to do this right, then Selena had popped into his life and everything just sort of unraveled from there.
Rosa came out of the bedroom and he heard the TV on in there then.
“We have another huntress to do the job,” he said.
“Who?” Rosa narrowed her eyes and folded her arms. “Don’t tell me after you’ve had me here doing nothing all this time you want to swap out huntresses. You know very well that I can do this.”
“Your sister, Selena. She has been searching for you and nearly got herself killed because of it.”
Rosa sank into a chair, looking sufficiently shocked and upset to satisfy him. “Hunters?” she asked, her voice strained.
“A vampire.”
“What? How is she? What happened?”
“She suffered a couple of bad bite wounds and a mild concussion. Tell me again why you want to help us.”
“But she’s okay now?”
“She’s under my protection because her own kind won’t offer it. She killed a hunter who was attempting to kill a vampiress. Did you know about that?” He couldn’t have been angrier about it.
“Uh, yes. Okay, listen, my sister and I don’t see eye to eye on a lot of issues—first and foremost—my dating habits.”
Atreides raised a brow.
“But when it
comes to hunters killing innocent vampires, I’m just like my sister and wanting to deal with them in the harshest way possible. So if hunters are targeting vampiresses, I want it stopped before we have a full-fledged war. I want in on this and I’m going to hunt the hunters down with or without your support.” Then Rosa frowned. “Why would a vampire try to kill Selena when she had protected one of your own?”
“That’s one of the things I have to discover. Do you know any vampire who would have a grudge against her?”
“As many rogue vampires as she has terminated? A few family members, friends, associates, possibly.”
“What about the brother of the hunter Selena killed while protecting the vampiress?” Atreides wondered why no one had mentioned this to him, that a pregnant vampire had needed protection. Maybe because it had happened so quickly and no one had known about it, or maybe she had worried he would find fault with her for carrying a hunter’s child. “Cliff now vows revenge and intends to kill Selena.”
Rosa’s eyes widened. “He wouldn’t dare. She might be a borderline rogue hunter, but no way would he incur the League’s wrath if he killed her out of revenge. He would have to have their sanction, or his own death would be ordered. Even though she has been ostracized for what she did, enough of our people stood by her, because when she protected the vampiress, the hunter had attempted to kill Selena. It wasn’t right. And what the hunter had planned to do to the vampiress wasn’t right.”
“Why hasn’t the League declared Cliff a rogue?” Atreides asked.
“No hunter witnessed him killing an innocent vampire. At least none that would tell on him,” Rosa said. “And the same if Cliff vows revenge. It might be hearsay, but unless anyone has real proof he intends to? No one can do anything about it.”
“What if Cliff hired a vampire to kill Selena?” Atreides asked.
“I wouldn’t think one would work for a hunter. Even so, how is she alive if one of them had attacked her?” Rosa asked.
“We’re not sure why either. He was dead, at least we think so, by her own sword. I’m certain he was trying to send us a message. Who does Cliff run with? What about the other hunters who might be involved in this?” Atreides wanted her to verify who else might be in on this.